


Day 6: Aliens

by GemmaRose



Series: Voltron Week [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Culture, Aliens, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 22:59:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7777039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It hits Allura at the most unexpected of times, just how alien her Paladins are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day 6: Aliens

A scream came from behind the closed door of the training room, and Allura paused with her hand over the opening pad. Shiro had said something about a training exercise earlier, but that hadn’t sounded like a scream of pain or fear. In fact, from the indistinct shouting, she would’ve guessed that her Paladins were actually enjoying themselves. After a moment, she walked a little further down the hall and opened the door which lead to the balcony. She would just take a quick look at this apparently enjoyable training method Shiro had devised, and see if the castle had any programs which could be altered to make it more challenging in the future.

Lance was standing alone not quite in the middle of the room, the other four paladins spread out in a rough semi-circle between him and the door. Allura activated the enclosed balcony’s speakers, and perched on the edge of the control panel to listen in. Lance was silent for a few long seconds, then grinned. “Mixito!”

None of the others moved, but Pidge crossed their arms. “We should add a ‘nobody knows what you’re talking about’ option.” the youngest Paladin said dryly.

“It’s a freaking- ugh!” Lance groaned. “Fine, flan. Fucking-”

The other four Paladins broke into a sprint, scattering as Lance spluttered. After a moment to compose himself, he bolted after them yelling about how they were all cheaters. He abruptly changed course, abandoning his chase of Pidge and Keith to charge at Hunk. The Yellow Paladin dove forward, but Lance did the same and they collided in midair. Shiro skidded to a stop and looked over at them.

“You two okay?” he asked, turning to face his teammates.

“Peachy.” Hunk lifted a fist, thumb extended towards the sky.

“My head.” Lance groaned, sitting up and rubbing his temple with the heel of his hand.

“That’s why I suggested doing this in our flight suits.” Keith smirked, crossing his arms.

“Okay, _you_ try headbutting Hunk at any kind of speed. Even with your helmet on, the guy’s solid granite!” he slapped Hunk’s side, and was punched in the ribs in retaliation. “Anyway, you’re up dude.” Lance patted Hunk’s shoulder and levered himself upright, rubbing his head again as he and the other three Paladins headed back to their starting positions.

It seemed simple enough, if somewhat arbitrary. The Paladin in the middle shouted a nonsense word, and the rest of them would run to the other end of the room. It seemed almost like a child’s game, like the chasing training-games she’d played with the children of foreign diplomats and local nobility as a child, but she knew none of the rules. Even now, after months of sharing her home with them, Allura still didn’t truly understand her new Paladins.

They were close, close enough to form Voltron, and yet still they fought. Not just sparring, which she’d seen the previous Paladins do countless times, but genuine fighting. They would strike each other hard enough she suspected some of them bruised, they bickered over the simplest of things, at times they were even deliberately _cruel_ to each other. And they called all of this good fun, normal human bonding. And that was just the thing, wasn’t it? They didn’t form social bonds like alteans, as a byproduct of training and learning together. Nor did they bond like galra, who were raised communally and bonded with their peers by living together throughout childhood. No, they bonded like humans, with violence and alien jokes and a physicality that Allura was sure she’d never comprehend.

Down below, Hunk called out another word she didn’t know and the Paladins sprinted for the other side of the room. They were alien, true, but at least they were a team. A team she very much needed.

**Author's Note:**

> The game the Paladins are playing is called What Do You Think, you can look up the exact rules online, but basically it’s a version of tag.


End file.
